To Fight Shadows
Jun. 19th, 2022 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerSaki is Hermit Arcana, and her Persona is probably a Changeling, because she doesn’t feel like she fits in.
oh yeah forgot to add hope everyone that celebrates Father's Day had a great day, and for anyone who doesn't, I hope you had a great day anyway!
Main Points:
Persona 4 Past Will Tell AU (protag swap + Average AU)
Chapter Summary: Saving Senpai.
Word Count: 1195
Rating: Teen (some swearing; it's Yosuke)
more of yosuke being bi with the worst sense of timing
“I—Hana-chan?” Saki-senpai asks, voice shaking, and Yosuke wipes his eyes. He’s crying. She’s safe. Yesterday and today his entire existence revolved around saving her, and now she’s safe, and he’s pretty sure the adrenaline’s wearing off.
“You’re okay,” he greets her, smiling wide and happy. “You’re okay now, Senpai.”
Her gaze slips past to her Shadow, and her face twists.
“Hey, Saki-senpai. This isn’t all there is to you.” The unhappy noise she makes says she disagrees, so he gives himself permission to babble for once. “If it was, you wouldn’t be so worried about having hurt my feelings. Your feelings are valid, okay? Anyone in your situation would be losing it, so don’t worry about it. You’re trying to cope with the shitty stuff—dead boyfriend, Junes, expectations. And Chie would agree with you. I can be the most annoying person in Inaba. I’m working on it, so, you know, you can work on it too? Nobody’s perfect.”
She’s crying, now, too, and when he glances over at Chie, she’s crying, too. Great. But at least he’s given her the courage she needs to walk over to her Shadow. She doesn’t say the words, just hugs her yellow-eyed self, which disappears and turns into a tarot card, just like Chie’s.
“Hana-chan, I don’t think—” she starts, and her voice is still shaking.
“No, that’s fine—” he starts, but she talks over him, struggling to get the words out.
“I don’t think I can do this.” She waves a hand vaguely at the twisted version of her family’s store, and his heart sinks. He’d hoped—but nah, this wasn’t about him.
He laughs a little, fiddling with his headphones as the other two stare at him, worried. “I.” He swallows. No. If he’s doing this, if he’s playing the leader and going to catch this bastard, he has to work on his confidence. “I didn’t save you so you’d ‘owe’ me anything, Saki-senpai. I know you don’t like me—well, not like your Shadow said, but you don’t like me like I like you, and that’s…it hurts, and it sucks, but that’s life, right? It’s not like you need to return my feelings or anything. I saved you so you wouldn’t die.” He smiles through his breaking heart. “If anything, I’m happy about this, because I’d hate to force someone to risk their life after days of being in danger.”
“Hana-chan—” she repeats, voice and face anguished. “But you’re going to keep doing this?”
“We’re going to keep doing this,” Chie corrects sternly, protectively, and he laughs again, because Chie might be scary overprotective but he can’t say he minds, not now. He doesn’t think he could do this on his own, and he’s gotta have someone to save his clumsy butt.
“Besides, this is a good thing. Do you know who pushed you into the TV?” he asks, and at the blank stare suddenly remembers oh yeah that’s weird. Either I’m so sleep-deprived I forgot, or I legit got used to it already. “We’re in a world inside the TV.”
Her brow furrows, and eventually she shakes her head. “Sorry, I don’t.”
He sighs, but he’s not all that torn up about it. He hadn’t been expecting much. “Figures. That’d be too easy. But, like I was gonna say—the culprit might think you remember something, so he might try again. Be careful. And hey, you’ve got a Persona now, too, so if all else fails, you can probably keep yourself safe until we come get you, if you end up here again.” He pauses, then adds, “…And if you remember anything, or you don’t feel safe, or you just need to talk…whatever you need, you have my number. Don’t hesitate to bug me about this. The offer is totally relationship-free.”
She still looks lost. “Why would you do so much for me?”
They start walking back to the entrance, Yosuke with his knives still at the ready, Chie bouncing from foot to foot as she walks, ready to kick another Shadow into next week if it dares show its face.
“Because some wise upperclassman came and told me when I was feeling down that ‘you’re not your parents’. Since then I’ve been trying to live up to her example. To impress her, even if I’m never gonna have a chance.” She smiles, but she still looks upset.
“But you’ve already surpassed me. I’m…” she swallows, looks down at her hands and then back up at him. “I’m a coward.”
“Yeah, or I’m just really reckless,” he disagrees, feeling something slot back into place when she laughs. “Or bored.” Wait, along those lines— “Hang on, Senpai, do you know a transfer student named Souji Seta? Bowl cut, grey hair and eyes?” He almost adds ‘kinda handsome’ but swallows it just in time.
“He came after she was already in the TV,” Chie disagrees, frowning, and, score, something he’s actually contributing.
“Yeah, but didn’t he seem like he knew, like, way too much?” he asks, and it takes a few moments for her to catch on.
“Ohhhh. Yosuke—you don’t think—” she asks, getting back in a fighting stance without even realizing.
He shrugs and looks at Saki-senpai, who’s frowning and shaking her head. “I don’t think I know him. Is he a suspect?”
“He’s suspicious, yeah, but I dunno if I’d call him a suspect. I just can’t figure out what his deal is.” He takes out his phone, flipping through the notes so far, written like he’s talking about a new obscure manga or something. Lowers his voice, because it sucks that they have to talk about this, but also yeah, they do have to talk about this. He’ll do his best not to hurt Senpai. “I don’t think the dates match up, because I think we can say Yamano-san and Taguchi-san definitely were killed by the same criminal. Sure, I can go into the TV too, but Chie couldn’t on her own before now, and I haven’t heard any rumors about this. It’d be pretty unlikely some copycat would’ve gotten the same powers.”
“That’s for sure,” Chie agrees.
“You shouldn’t rule it out,” Saki-senpai states suddenly, and oh god is she remembering something? “Um. That’s what they always say on mystery shows. You can say it’s really unlikely, but that unlikely event has already happened twice, so a copycat is possible.”
He still feels uneasy about maybe labeling Seta-kun as a murderer, but Senpai helping out is more than he’d wanted from her, so that’s nice, anyway.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of research,” he points out to Chie, who groans, and Senpai laughs at them both, only it’s not a mean laugh. It’s a nice laugh.
“Count me in for that, too. I can help out with research and that kind of thing—and maybe in keeping your grades up, given how hard you’re going to be working for this—even if I’m not comfortable fighting.”
That helps, especially since between this and work, he’s not sure how much time he’s gonna have to study anyway. Things are finally starting to look up.
oh yeah forgot to add hope everyone that celebrates Father's Day had a great day, and for anyone who doesn't, I hope you had a great day anyway!
Main Points:
Persona 4 Past Will Tell AU (protag swap + Average AU)
Chapter Summary: Saving Senpai.
Word Count: 1195
Rating: Teen (some swearing; it's Yosuke)
more of yosuke being bi with the worst sense of timing
“I—Hana-chan?” Saki-senpai asks, voice shaking, and Yosuke wipes his eyes. He’s crying. She’s safe. Yesterday and today his entire existence revolved around saving her, and now she’s safe, and he’s pretty sure the adrenaline’s wearing off.
“You’re okay,” he greets her, smiling wide and happy. “You’re okay now, Senpai.”
Her gaze slips past to her Shadow, and her face twists.
“Hey, Saki-senpai. This isn’t all there is to you.” The unhappy noise she makes says she disagrees, so he gives himself permission to babble for once. “If it was, you wouldn’t be so worried about having hurt my feelings. Your feelings are valid, okay? Anyone in your situation would be losing it, so don’t worry about it. You’re trying to cope with the shitty stuff—dead boyfriend, Junes, expectations. And Chie would agree with you. I can be the most annoying person in Inaba. I’m working on it, so, you know, you can work on it too? Nobody’s perfect.”
She’s crying, now, too, and when he glances over at Chie, she’s crying, too. Great. But at least he’s given her the courage she needs to walk over to her Shadow. She doesn’t say the words, just hugs her yellow-eyed self, which disappears and turns into a tarot card, just like Chie’s.
“Hana-chan, I don’t think—” she starts, and her voice is still shaking.
“No, that’s fine—” he starts, but she talks over him, struggling to get the words out.
“I don’t think I can do this.” She waves a hand vaguely at the twisted version of her family’s store, and his heart sinks. He’d hoped—but nah, this wasn’t about him.
He laughs a little, fiddling with his headphones as the other two stare at him, worried. “I.” He swallows. No. If he’s doing this, if he’s playing the leader and going to catch this bastard, he has to work on his confidence. “I didn’t save you so you’d ‘owe’ me anything, Saki-senpai. I know you don’t like me—well, not like your Shadow said, but you don’t like me like I like you, and that’s…it hurts, and it sucks, but that’s life, right? It’s not like you need to return my feelings or anything. I saved you so you wouldn’t die.” He smiles through his breaking heart. “If anything, I’m happy about this, because I’d hate to force someone to risk their life after days of being in danger.”
“Hana-chan—” she repeats, voice and face anguished. “But you’re going to keep doing this?”
“We’re going to keep doing this,” Chie corrects sternly, protectively, and he laughs again, because Chie might be scary overprotective but he can’t say he minds, not now. He doesn’t think he could do this on his own, and he’s gotta have someone to save his clumsy butt.
“Besides, this is a good thing. Do you know who pushed you into the TV?” he asks, and at the blank stare suddenly remembers oh yeah that’s weird. Either I’m so sleep-deprived I forgot, or I legit got used to it already. “We’re in a world inside the TV.”
Her brow furrows, and eventually she shakes her head. “Sorry, I don’t.”
He sighs, but he’s not all that torn up about it. He hadn’t been expecting much. “Figures. That’d be too easy. But, like I was gonna say—the culprit might think you remember something, so he might try again. Be careful. And hey, you’ve got a Persona now, too, so if all else fails, you can probably keep yourself safe until we come get you, if you end up here again.” He pauses, then adds, “…And if you remember anything, or you don’t feel safe, or you just need to talk…whatever you need, you have my number. Don’t hesitate to bug me about this. The offer is totally relationship-free.”
She still looks lost. “Why would you do so much for me?”
They start walking back to the entrance, Yosuke with his knives still at the ready, Chie bouncing from foot to foot as she walks, ready to kick another Shadow into next week if it dares show its face.
“Because some wise upperclassman came and told me when I was feeling down that ‘you’re not your parents’. Since then I’ve been trying to live up to her example. To impress her, even if I’m never gonna have a chance.” She smiles, but she still looks upset.
“But you’ve already surpassed me. I’m…” she swallows, looks down at her hands and then back up at him. “I’m a coward.”
“Yeah, or I’m just really reckless,” he disagrees, feeling something slot back into place when she laughs. “Or bored.” Wait, along those lines— “Hang on, Senpai, do you know a transfer student named Souji Seta? Bowl cut, grey hair and eyes?” He almost adds ‘kinda handsome’ but swallows it just in time.
“He came after she was already in the TV,” Chie disagrees, frowning, and, score, something he’s actually contributing.
“Yeah, but didn’t he seem like he knew, like, way too much?” he asks, and it takes a few moments for her to catch on.
“Ohhhh. Yosuke—you don’t think—” she asks, getting back in a fighting stance without even realizing.
He shrugs and looks at Saki-senpai, who’s frowning and shaking her head. “I don’t think I know him. Is he a suspect?”
“He’s suspicious, yeah, but I dunno if I’d call him a suspect. I just can’t figure out what his deal is.” He takes out his phone, flipping through the notes so far, written like he’s talking about a new obscure manga or something. Lowers his voice, because it sucks that they have to talk about this, but also yeah, they do have to talk about this. He’ll do his best not to hurt Senpai. “I don’t think the dates match up, because I think we can say Yamano-san and Taguchi-san definitely were killed by the same criminal. Sure, I can go into the TV too, but Chie couldn’t on her own before now, and I haven’t heard any rumors about this. It’d be pretty unlikely some copycat would’ve gotten the same powers.”
“That’s for sure,” Chie agrees.
“You shouldn’t rule it out,” Saki-senpai states suddenly, and oh god is she remembering something? “Um. That’s what they always say on mystery shows. You can say it’s really unlikely, but that unlikely event has already happened twice, so a copycat is possible.”
He still feels uneasy about maybe labeling Seta-kun as a murderer, but Senpai helping out is more than he’d wanted from her, so that’s nice, anyway.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of research,” he points out to Chie, who groans, and Senpai laughs at them both, only it’s not a mean laugh. It’s a nice laugh.
“Count me in for that, too. I can help out with research and that kind of thing—and maybe in keeping your grades up, given how hard you’re going to be working for this—even if I’m not comfortable fighting.”
That helps, especially since between this and work, he’s not sure how much time he’s gonna have to study anyway. Things are finally starting to look up.
